Gorbachev: We should have preserved Soviet Union !

MOSCOW â€” Twenty years on, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev still "deeply regrets" the demise of the USSR, blames the United States for not being more supportive of his efforts to reform the Communist system, believes US global power is on the decline and worries that Vladimir Putin â€“ who aims to become president again next March -- is dragging Russia backward.

In a video interview with Liliya Shevtsova, of the Moscow Carnegie Center, and timed for the 20th anniversary of the USSR's collapse, Mr. Gorbachev admits that the Communist system was tainted by dictatorship and violations of human rights, but insists that the Soviet Union had many positive aspects that were worth saving.

"I have always thought that preserving the USSR was possible, and I still think so today," he says. "We were too late with our reforms.... The Soviet Union offered lots of prospects to those who lived there, and it could have had a future if it had modernized and adapted to new challenges. Yes, I regret [its collapse] very much."

In a dizzying six years of intensive reforms after coming to power in 1985, Gorbachev opened up the Soviet media to open debate, allowed free speech, loosened controls on political organization, and replaced Communist Party fiat with elected legislatures at every level of power.

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The Soviet Union could not have been saved. 60% of their GDP was eaten up by the military-industrial complex. Just imagine - 60%! Essentials such as bread required you to stand in a queue and consumer goods were non-existent, and people were constantly deprived. Watch some of the documentaries and descriptions of life in the SU. Drab as hell, absolutely no life in the cities.